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Dr. Jo Anne Lyon



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Mustard Seed Living

I have always been intrigued by the Parable of the Mustard Seed, but this past week I felt as if I was a bit closer to living it out. I was invited to New York City to participate in an Interfaith Consultation on the Global Hunger Crisis, which was a side event of the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. I was asked to give a theological reflection from the Wesleyan tradition on the issue of Global Poverty. The discussion in our sessions was regarding the rising cost of food prices which is literally taking the lives of thousands around the world. At the same time, across the street there were discussions being conducted regarding the 700 billion dollar bail out of the economy.

The people attending the Consultation were favorably impressed with the position paper of The Wesleyan Church on global poverty. In fact, it is being distributed widely. If you have not seen it, please go to http://www.wesleyan.org/gc/blog/positional_letters/?cat=3. Somehow, I believe we will see the results of The Mustard Seed parable.

Many people are living out the parable. I was deeply moved when visiting Collin Creek Community Church in Plano, Texas. As they heard about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Swaziland, they said, "We will respond. We will take on Swaziland." They have sent teams, funds, and are now sending a full-time volunteer for two years through Global Partners. . .and they have only begun.

Collin Creek was the mother church to Horizons, planted in The Colony, Texas—a nearby community. I visited there also and was deeply moved by the diversity of the church. I shared that morning about issues of human trafficking. At the end of the service a woman came to me to share how she had been sold and used. But, glory to God, she is free and redeemed, and expressed her thankfulness to God through her ministry in the praise team. A few minutes later, a woman who was the dean of a leading Christian college discussed how she could get her college involved. I was deeply moved by seeing the kingdom of God in action.

Under the leadership of District Superintendent Dwight Nash, the people of the Texas-Louisiana District have generously given of themselves by hosting volunteers to assist in the recent clean-up efforts of the hurricanes.

All of these are examples of Mustard Seed living in action!

Reflections